


Runaways

by LindtLuirae



Category: Naruto
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Banter, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Flirting, Good Kisame, Humour, KakaSakuKisa, M/M, Matchmaker Kisame, Missing-Nin Haruno Sakura, Missing-Nin Hatake Kakashi, Past ItaKaka, Protective Kisame, Smut, Some angst, Spitroasting, Undercover Missions, clueless Kakashi, i apologise for nothing, liberal use of nicknames, or should I say wingman Kisame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:01:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29129958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LindtLuirae/pseuds/LindtLuirae
Summary: Kisame’s lips pursed. And then he let out a slow, agitated breath. “One thing. Say the wrong thing, make the wrong move, and they will kill you. I assure you that’s not in your best interest.”“Where are we?” Kakashi asked measuredly, willing for a moment to be a part of this charade.Kisame’s menacing grin made a reappearance. “I’m glad you asked. This, my delicate flower, is the Akatsuki base of operation. You have made the honorable acquaintance of its jail cell. But I need you to bid it farewell and I need you to do exactly as I say when I say it if you want those answers you’re seeking.”
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hoshigaki Kisame, Haruno Sakura/Hoshigaki Kisame/Hatake Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi/Hoshigaki Kisame
Comments: 8
Kudos: 58





	Runaways

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sarcastic_mommy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcastic_mommy/gifts).



> Oh my god this took a literal forever. Thank you so much sarcastic-mommy for your unbelievable patience and your moving support. I know this was meant to be 3.5k words but the story wanted to run longer and I honestly owe you so much so here's a gift from me. I hope you enjoy it ❤️
> 
> Thank you Kakashisgf, sleepyfox and sadbean for you help, I love you guys. 
> 
> Behold my 50th contribution to AO3... jfc 50 fics. I need to lie down now.

They call it psychological shock.

At least, that was what filtered through the ringing in his ears as Sakura calmly explained to their Hokage that her Jounin commander was compromised and can’t, in fact, go hunt his freshly declared missing-nin boyfriend. 

The word spun dizzy circles in his head until he thought he was going to be sick from it. Missing-nin. Missing-nin. Missing-nin.

 **Missing-nin:** ninja who abandon their village with no intention of returning.

Except hadn’t Kakashi and Itachi bled for Konoha since they were five, had fought and killed and cried for this village just the same?

So how could it be—

How was it possible that—

Why would he become… 

It defied all logic. 

And hasn’t he just left a bed that was still toasty warm with Itachi’s presence? What about his musky scent that still clung to Kakashi’s skin, fresh and raw from a passionate night that went on into the little hours of the morning?

It could not be that Itachi—his sweet, pure, loving Itachi that held him every night, that drank his tea scalding hot and pet stray cats and laughed quietly in his ear as he told a joke—could ever get himself to— to ... to. 

To.

The culmination of a thought that refused to register. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind was mute horror for what could have befallen Sasuke. Shisui. Izumi. Those friends and family he held dearly.

But they were infinitesimal next to the big, grey, thundering cloud striking lightning behind his eyelids until it threatened to split his head. 

It wasn’t often that Kakashi’s gut feeling about people failed him. 

It wasn’t often that he trusted the wrong person. 

No. It could not be that—

“Ka-ka-shi.” When Tsunade’s palm landed, it landed hard enough to rock his body.

Detachedly, he noted a dull sting spreading through his cheek. When he looked up, slowly, mechanically, Tsunade’s glare was fierce.

“Snap out of it,” she demanded. She could have snapped his neck and he wouldn’t have stopped her.

“We have no sympathy for traitors,” she said with the hardened tone of a woman who had endured the loss of a teammate to evil genius and greed and came out of it intact. “None.”

Traitors.

Suddenly he was on his feet with no memory of how he ever managed to find them. “I’m going after him.”

Tsunade pressed a scroll to his palm. There was a heavy pause, and then: “If you can bring him back ... we promise to reduce his sentence. Otherwise, kill on sight. That’s an order, Hatake. We can’t risk the sharingan in the hands of an enemy.”

Enemy.

Nausea, so intense he swayed a little on his feet and swallowed hard, nearly overcame him. 

“Yes ma’am,” he managed through his cotton dry mouth.

He couldn’t look at Sakura who stood quietly behind her mentor but whose eyes overflowed with such sympathy it was nearly repulsive. 

He could not stand it.

Kakashi bolted through the window, unbeknownst to him that this might be the last time he stepped foot through this office.

Unbeknownst to him that nothing much would matter anymore.

* * *

In the next seventy-two hours Kakashi would make it all the way from Fire Country to frigid Lightning and its gloomy skies and perpetual snow. 

He would spend a week turning every rock, knocking every door, searching every cranny.

And when he found nothing, he would backtrack to Wind Country, desperate, scared, but determined to clear the no-doubt monumental misunderstanding that must’ve taken place. 

He would bring Itachi back. 

And then four months passed.

Four months in which each day was agonizing and endless. With each sunrise and awaking in a cold bed, a fragment of his soul would wither and die, until Kakashi felt so cold inside it killed every glimmer of hope he had left.

And then he roamed aimlessly, chasing the memory of a scent that had long since dissipated to leave behind a cold trail. Missing him. Missing every inch of him so much he never thought something could ever hurt so intensely for so long. 

And then he cried some, but kept searching.

Until, eventually, after a year, news would reach him that Kakashi had been made a missing nin.

.

.

.

**Missing-nin:** ninja who abandon their village with no intention of returning.

Kakashi would have mourned for a lost home had he not already lost his a year ago. 

He chased loose threads through obscure lands, evaded hunters at night and hunted through the day. Blood caked on the beds of his nails, and memories of Itachi’s ghost haunted him until he thought he’d never get a sound night’s sleep again. 

He stole and tortured and killed and watched every bit of his moral compass crumble and die in the harsh light of his new reality. And then eventually, one year and eight months later, he stumbled upon what he was searching for.

In a small town next to Ame, weathered and wracked with poverty and soaked in an endless rain, lay a cave. 

Kisame Hoshigaki, notorious swordsman of the bloody mist, stood tall and imposing on the rocky outcrop, his giant sword resting casually on his shoulder.

“Kakashi Hatake,” his mouth curved dangerously. “What a lovely coincidence.”

Eerie calm settled over Kakashi. This was Itachi’s alleged ‘partner’ after all. Kakashi nearly has him.

He nearly has his answers.

“Where’s Itachi.”

Kisame’s face lost its humor. Hardened eyes pierced through him for a silent beat. “He is dead.”

Dead. Dead?

“Where. Is. Itachi.”

“Listen lover boy, I’m not a fan of repeating myself so you better listen carefully this time. Itachi is dead.”

No. 

No.

NO.

“I swear if you’re fucking with me right now, I’m going to strangle you with your own entrails.” 

Behind the threat, something shivered violently within Kakashi. Kisame had no reason to lie. Unless Itachi had asked him to. But that would imply that Itachi did in fact leave his village to become a criminal, which was ... which could not be possible.

Kakashi waited for the possible blow. But Kisame didn’t move a single inch. He may as well have been made out of the same stone he stood upon. 

Silence. Heavy, suffocating silence reigned. The wind rustled through the tree leaves, another physical weight against Kakashi that did little to ground him. 

“You really don’t know,” Kisame said at last, somewhat flatly. 

He still made no move to strike.

His heart, cracked and fragile, was beginning to quiver in his chest as he fought to stay focused. Don’t know? Don’t know what? Don’t know that ... that Itachi is dead? 

“He’s not dead,” Kakashi beseeched in a hollow voice even as the faint hope he still held onto despite all odds vaporized. 

He was dead then, wasn’t he? Kakashi had not caught a single trail in months—that would explain it. All this time there had been mists of Itachi’s presence lingering here and there and then suddenly there was none. 

And if there was one person Itachi couldn’t evade completely, it was Kakashi. 

Except he has evaded him, hasn’t he? Nearly two years and here he was and Itachi was gone.

Wet, heavy hotness pooled in his eyes. 

Kisame’s image wavered. And then he blurred and Kakashi was on his back.

Ah. Here it was. Kakashi let his guard down. Or perhaps he hadn’t really intended to put up a fight in the first place.

Kisame’s hard eyes, yellow and glowing like a shark’s, gazed at him with such fury, Kakashi could not comprehend it. “Do not.”

Kakashi shook his head dazedly as he tried to dislodge the hand throttling him. 

“Do not,” Kisame repeated, “disrespect his memory with your pathetic fucking tears.”

Oh. He was crying. The thought was as shocking as it was ludicrous.

“Are you going to kill me?” Kakashi managed to wheeze out. It was perhaps a silly question given their current circumstances and the literal choke hold Kisame had him locked in.

Kisame barked out a harsh laugh. “Kill you? Why as tempting as that is, I think it would suit us both better if we joined forces. You’ve got nowhere left to run, Kakashi no sharingan. Even your own village has abandoned you. We are the same.”

Indignation swept through him, giving him a much needed surge of power. He twisted hard enough to bruise his own bones but he succeeded in pinning Kisame to the ground. “I’m nothing like you.”

Kisame laughed again, almost gleefully. “Oh but I think you’re exactly like me.”

Gracefully, almost too easily, Kisame slammed him back on the ground with enough force to knock the air out of him. He coughed, wheezing, as Kisame loomed threateningly over him. “Think about it,” he murmured, like he was imparting a lewd secret. “An eternal dream. A place where you could have your Itachi back.” 

Kakashi struggled against an iron-like grip. The niggling thought nearly made him bash his own skull against Kisame’s in hopes of dislodging the poisonous idea. 

He wanted Itachi back.

The thought of never hearing his voice again, of never making him laugh once more, of never again seeing the secret sparkle in his eyes when he got excited about something nearly overwhelmed Kakashi’s chest. He choked, a sound like a sob, but more feral, left his throat—he couldn’t do that. No matter what anyone called him, he wasn’t a criminal. In his heart of hearts he believed Itachi could never be a traitor and he’d never disrespect his memory like that. “No.”

Kisame’s shark-like grin slashed across his face as he raised his hand.

And then he struck Kakashi and everything went black.

  
  
  


_High in the halls of the kings who are gone ..._

_... Jenny would dance with her ghosts_

_The ones she had lost and the ones she had found ..._

_... And the ones who had loved her the most_

_The ones who'd been gone for so very long ..._

“Nghg,” Kakashi cringed away from a throb at the back of his head. There was a soft song curling in his ears, and a steady pressure on his nape. 

“Tsk,” someone made a disapproving sound and pressed him down. 

The world swam dizzily as Kakashi cracked open heavy eyelids. 

Luminous yellow glowed in the muted light of the room. Kisame Hoshigaki’s face loomed over his in a sick parody of a lover leaning in for a kiss. 

Kakashi jerked, realised he wasn’t restrained, and nearly ended up sprawled on the ground had Kisame not pinned him back down in the nick of time. “Simmer down dog boy,” Kisame hissed, throwing a look to the bars of Kakashi’s cage. 

A shadow flickered in the far corner and disappeared.

Kakashi held his breath in utter shock. “What are you—“

“Sh!” Kisame hushed forcefully. 

The bizarreness of the situation combined with the soul-numbing grief still coursing through Kakashi’s veins sent him down on his back like someone who’d passed out cold.

Kisame’s lips pursed. And then he let out a slow, agitated breath. “One thing. Say the wrong thing, make the wrong move, and they will kill you. I assure you that’s not in your best interest.”

“Where are we?” Kakashi asked measuredly, willing for a moment to be a part of this charade. 

Kisame’s menacing grin made a reappearance. “I’m glad you asked. This, my delicate flower, is the Akatsuki base of operation. You have made the honorable acquaintance of its jail cell. But I need you to bid it farewell and I need you to do exactly as I say when I say it if you want those answers you’re seeking.”

His heart leapt. Kisame knew something. He had to know what happened to Itachi.

Kakashi jolted up in his seat, causing Kisame to swiftly lean back to avoid being head-butted. “Tell me,” Kakashi demanded.

“Then do as I say,” Kisame said slowly with an ominous look in his eyes. “Do it and I’ll tell you everything.”

  
  


They held a ceremony in light of Kakashi ‘joining’ them as a new partner to Kisame and a member of Akatsuki. In all his life Kakashi never thought he’d tangle with a criminal organization even if it was just to gather information undercover. Contrary to popular belief he was not well-versed in undercover work simply because he could not stand the thought of betraying his village even under a pretense.

The other members of Akatsuki weren’t present in person but as a holographic display. Kakashi was grateful. He didn’t know how he’d react had he stood in a circle with ten known criminals. The most _dangerous_ criminals.

Kisame stood next to him, larger than he had any right to be. Kakashi knew Kisame was a tall man, but standing at standstill by his side made Kakashi feel dwarfed. The top of his hair barely graced Kisame’s shoulder. 

“I’ll brief him,” Kisame volunteered, halfway through Pein’s— _Pain’s?—_ speech. “We have much to discuss.”

“Do that and report to me again in the morning for your next mission.” 

And the cave went pitch black. Kakashi’s insides throbbed with something like fear. The uncertainty of his situation didn’t settle well with him. And why should he trust Kisame anyway? Besides a strange gut feeling, the man radiated nothing but dangerous competence.

“Come on,” Kisame said to him. 

When Kakashi opened his mouth to demand an explanation, Kisame’s sharp hiss cut over him. “Not here.”

They waded out of the cave into the crisp weather of autumn. 

Kakashi was not feeling particularly patient, but he followed Kisame through the forest until they reached a hideout. 

“In,” Kisame commanded. 

Once inside the drafty room, Kakashi turned his unimpressed stare at Kisame’s back (and tried hard not to think about his situation; being locked in a small room with this man). Kisame sealed the room with what Kakashi presumed to be sound deadening seals, and turned to face Kakashi.

And for the first time, his facade cracked. The cocky arrogance splintered, and something heart wrenchingly sad took its place. 

“Why?” was all Kakashi was able to manage. Why would Itachi join them? Why would he become a criminal? _How_? And why did Kisame care at all?

“Because he wanted to dismantle the Akatsuki.”

“So you killed him,” Kakashi said venomously.

“So I _helped_ him,” Kisame spat back.

They stared at each other. Kakashi’s insides churned. Kisame just looked defeated.

“He was ill,” Kisame finally said. Something in Kakashi shrivelled at this. “Severely ill. Dying. I could tell. He tried to hide it but I could smell the blood.” 

Kakashi’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly. 

“He had some sort of immunodeficiency. His lungs were bad. His organs were failing,” Kisame’s voice held a strange gruff thickness.

And Kakashi’s world was crumbling beneath his feet.

“I take it you didn’t know?”

Kakashi shook his head dazedly. “He— he just upped and left. In the middle of the night. He didn’t—he never said anything.”

“I’m sorry,” Kisame said. “He asked me to make sure you were alright.”

“How—” Kakashi stopped, eyes burning. “So what are you then? Are you like him?”

“Oh no, I’m very much a bad person,” Kisame said with a self deprecating smile. “He just convinced me I was otherwise long enough to accidentally become his friend.”

Kakashi wanted to cry. But he held back the dam of emotions until he nearly quaked with them, until they slowly abated.

“And what now?” His voice didn’t wobble thankfully. Standing in the presence of Kisame had the uncanny ability to earth him into the moment. He couldn’t forget who he was in the company of. 

An S-class ninja with his gigantic build seemed to charge the air of the room with raw power. But he was placid in a way Kakashi still couldn’t wrap his head around. Although that could be excused as the bottomless pit of grief in his heart that allowed little space for anything else.

Kakashi had been ready to die. 

He pushed that thought out to ponder at a later date. Now he had much more pressing circumstances to attend to. What he had done was unforgivable. He’d been made a missing nin, and now he was in the ranks of a terrorist organisation set out on ruining everything they ever fought for.

“Now, we get to work,” Kisame said. “Now we finish what Itachi started.”

* * *

Kakashi was right of course. Itachi hadn’t abandoned his core values in a mad chase for power. He martyred himself instead. Kakashi didn’t know which one was worse. His lover had run away to become a missing nin in hopes of taking down the most dangerous and evil syndicate to ever plague the ninja world. 

He’d even swayed Kisame of the Bloody Mist to switch sides. That wasn’t impossible to believe however—anyone who knew Itachi was touched by his pacifism. He was always like a calm lake in the face of storms. He used cold hard facts and combined them with a bleeding compassion that touched anyone. 

Kakashi was willing to trust Kisame based on Itachi’s judgement. Surely, he could still count on that?

The Akatsuki sent them deep into the rocky wastelands of Iwagakure and Kakashi was forcefully reminded of the third war, all the espionage he carried through their hot desserts and the long nights bearing torture in their cells. Pain wanted them to retrieve an ancient artefact that would aid with the extraction of the tailed beasts. This was also his way of breaking Kakashi in as their new recruit.

Kakashi was wary and unsure. Evading Konoha hunter nins had been taking up the majority of his focus. Kisame was unconcerned but the last thing Kakashi wanted was to be forced into a confrontation where he’d need to harm a comrade—possibly a friend.

As they traversed the parched lands, they left no trails, of course; they were better than that. Yet somehow by an unrelenting force of nature, trouble seemed to find them regardless. 

At the bottom of a humid cave, so dark and putrid smelling, Kisame and Kakashi run into their first sign of trouble. Pain had carelessly omitted mentioning that the artefact they were seeking was sentient. 

It rumbled now like an enraged beast, raining debris and the wrath of gods on their heads.

Kisame took it in his usual over-confident fashion, swinging his sword like he was the reaper incarnated. 

But their artefact quickly proved its might—it couldn’t be hurt. They, on the other hand, were definitely very capable of feeling pain.

Kakashi gushed blood too soon for comfort, and the artefact dislocated one of Kisame’s shoulders as steam rose from the open rounded edge at the top of its head and knives shot out swinging wildly from the window shaped mouth in its bulbous body.

“Couldn’t he have mentioned it could _fight_?” Kakashi twisted out of the way of a serrated tail as it aimed a dagger at him. He crashed against a wall in his haste, gripped hard for purchase and swung himself away. 

But the tail whipped lightning fast and came down in a mighty arc while Kakashi was mid-air. He only had a second to brace himself against the pain that exploded in his mid-section. It sent him flying back and he slammed into Kisame who jumped to catch him mid-fall. “Easy princess, I’m not here to play prince charming to the rescue.”

Kakashi hissed at him, about to tell him to shove it when steam hissed again and the cave rumbled ominously.

“Is it trying to bring it down on our heads?” Kakashi said with a hint of fear.

“We have to find a way to destroy it,” Kisame said. “We have a good excuse to wreck it rather than secure it.”

He was right. When Pain asked for this artefact, they thought they would be retrieving an object, not fighting an unkillable monster. They couldn’t retrieve shit if they were dead.

“I have an idea,” Kakashi said, standing shakily as the artefact’s heavy body began to whirr around to face them. “If fire only makes it stronger, and the steam seems to be powering it, perhaps what we need to be utilising is water jutsu.”

“Ah,” Kisame murmured, his tone dangerous. “Good thing I’m here then, mhm?”

And then he leapt, and the cave exploded with the force of the oceans.

* * *

They limped out of Iwa soaked, which wasn’t much better than the scorching heat they arrived in but was definitely an improvement to Kakashi’s dehydration headache.

“Did you have to blast us seven ways to Sunday?” He asked Kisame, too drained to be angry. 

“It worked, did it not?” The shark-like grin was evidence that Kisame found their situation rather humorous. Kakashi didn’t quite share the sentiment but was curious to note that Kisame’s bearing seemed lighter in the absence of danger. 

He whistled softly as he allowed Kakashi to use his arm as a crutch—he’d offered to carry him but Kakashi had refused resolutely. He was not a child. And he would certainly seem like one on Kisame’s broad shoulders. 

He didn’t dignify him with a response. But in a strange twist of fate, Kakashi found that he felt safe enough to close his eyes as Kisame guided him, sure that if a danger arose, Kisame would have his back.

“Sleeping beauty, wakey wakey,” Kisame jostled him moments later, just as Kakashi was on the brink of dozing off. “Don’t fall asleep on me, I’d never live it down.”

“Shut up,” Kakashi rejoined, and his hazy mind marvelled over that. How different Kisame was to what he had imagined long before they were ever on the same side. 

“Or what?” Kisame challenged with good humour.

“Or I’ll put you to sleep.” Kakashi decided though he had no idea how he’d achieve that in his current state.

Kisame barked out a laugh, indicating what he thought of Kakashi’s threat. He patted his side, “Yes, yes indeed.”

“Are you this insufferable all the time?” Kakashi grumbled under his breath.

Kisame caught that. “I have my special moments. Itachi thought I was unbearable at first but apparently I grew on him.”

The mention of Itachi sobered Kakashi to full wakefulness. The thought of him always came with a painful pang in his chest; a reminder that even in his absence he would continue to live under Kakashi’s ribs. 

The silence, long and melancholy, was quite telling of what both men felt about the situation. “I’m sorry, Silver,” eventually Kisame offered, sounding sincere. “Don’t mean to open old wounds.”

Kakashi licked his lips. “Yeah that whole nice guy thing you have going on is starting to really creep me out,” he rasped.

Kisame howled with laughter, pulling Kakashi straighter as they continued their trek. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

* * *

By the end of the month, Kakashi had an entire collection of notes and revelations about his new partner. Kisame laughed like a maniac, cussed worse than Tsunade, and could drink the Hokage herself under the table.

He was regretful to discover that his maniac tendencies extended to the way he showered. Kakashi had been very confused when, upon suggesting they should shower, Kisame stopped and started undressing in plain sight.

The freezing cold rainfall of water that followed had Kakashi screaming murder at the man, while Kisame dissolved to tearful laughter, and laid naked as the day he was born in what was now a shallow lake.

Unfortunately, the absurdity of it didn’t stop there, but also extended to err... certain parts of his anatomy. Kakashi supposed it wasn’t all that strange, Kisame was a giant man. But it didn’t mean it didn’t defy all logic to be that big.

Another bizarre thing about his new partner was the way he was both loud and quiet, brash and thoughtful, sarcastic and genuine. Kakashi found himself stumbling trying to keep up with him. One moment Kisame was shaming Kakashi’s hairstyle to the ground and the next he was complimenting his lightning release. And then he’d make a genuinely disturbing comment about all the uses of it, in and outside of the bedroom.

He was an odd man, Hoshigaki Kisame. But Kakashi thought he wasn’t all that bad.

* * *

Kakashi should stop thinking, he said bitterly to himself. 

Kisame’s big mouth had done it at last, getting them in trouble with Pain. “If you cannot do your task, don’t yap and complain when you get benched.”

“Yeah? What about that time you fucking conveniently forgot to mention our target was sentient? Did we fucking say a word? Or did we suck it up and get back to work?”

“Need I remind you that you came back empty handed?” Pain said cynically. 

“I came back in one piece, which is the best you coulda hoped for ya dildo.”

Kakashi decided it was due time he intervened. “Err, Pain-sama. How about we put this behind us? Kisame is just missing the action. We’re ready for another mission.” 

Kisame glared at him, but his mouth shut begrudgingly. “Just give us the damn mission,” he said gruffly.

Pain considered them for a moment. “Fair enough. But fail again and it’ll be your ass on the sidelines.”

“Good boy Sharky’s got a mission,” Deidara laughed mockingly, waving after them.

“Don’t make me stuff it down your throat!” Kisame called back, grabbing Kakashi and making their way out of the Akatsuki base of operations. 

“Are you always like this?” Kakashi yanked his arm away, angry. “Were you trying to get us killed?”

“Chill out buttercup,” Kisame quipped. “I know what I’m doing.”

Yeah, right, Kakashi scoffed.

“Danger is part of the game,” he reminded him softly, voice full of steel and his predatory smile chilling. 

Kakashi looked at him, his chakra immediately scanning in a wide arch for any eavesdroppers. “Doesn’t mean you should go asking for trouble. What happens now if we fail?”

Kisame gave him a smile full of sharp teeth. “Simple. We don’t.” 

* * *

Their new mission took them as far out as Uzushio’s ruin. In the depths of the sea, Kisame seemed in his element, navigating waves like an expert sailor until they arrived at the wreckage of what was once one of the greatest shinobi nations.

This time they required an ancient sealing scroll rumoured to have been buried somewhere in those vast lands. 

“So how do we go about this?” Kakashi asked, looking around the ghostly town. 

“I’m glad you asked,” Kisame said with his trademark smirk as he looked around. “... First, you stay alert. This place is stuffed full of traps. If there’s one thing those poor bastards were good at, it’s being a pain even after they’re gone.”

Kakashi tried not to bristle. He had no Uzushio connections beyond Kushina but he couldn’t help feeling offence for her fallen comrades. 

“Second, ever heard of _The_ _Map of the Golden Lake_?” 

Kakashi’s thoughts came to a halt. “Isn’t that a myth?”

“No,” Kisame said patiently. “Quite the opposite... I’ve had it in my possession for decades.”

“You’re insane,” Kakashi decided, begrudgingly admiring. “Seriously?”

“Yes seriously,” Kisame fished a thin cylinder from his coat. 

_The Map of the Golden Lake_ was believed to be a myth for over a century. It originated from a love story between the beautiful red-haired Kariko of Uzushio and her foreign lover who’d sail the dangerous seas for weeks just to see her.

For their fifth anniversary Kariko offered him an invaluable gift after he’d proved himself worthy of her love and trust. She offered him a map to nowhere and everywhere. Imbued by ancient, powerful seals, the map would guide him to where his heart truly desired so he’d always find his way back to her no matter where they ended. 

Kariko and her lover went on to live many years until death did them apart, leaving behind a scroll where no one would find.

 _Yet_ ... “Where did you find it?” Kakashi said curiously, studying Kisame as he unsealed the cylinder. 

“I recovered his body, and was able to identify his scent on the scroll.”

“And where did you find his body?” Kakashi said patiently.

“They have a statue built for him and Uzumaki Kariko,” Kisame arched a curious eyebrow. “Have you never been here?”

“No?” Kakashi’s eyebrows arched too.

“Really? With Konoha’s ties to this place I find it peculiar no one thought to come investigate it. Their scrolls are invaluable,” Kisame said, scanning the ruin. “An entire history is buried here and no one thought to dig?”

Kakashi shrugged. “We tend not to talk about Uzushio, it’s a touchy topic.”

"How very strange," Kisame mumbled to himself. "Well, anyway. This is our ticket to the other scroll. If Kariko could create something as powerful as this, my hunch tells me we'll find the other scroll in her possession."

"Yes but she's a dead woman," Kakashi pointed and grabbed the scroll when Kisame offered it to him to inspect. "And I doubt we can use this."

"Of course we can," Kisame reassured, taking back the scroll to unseal it. "It shall take us to whatever our heart desires."

"Right but does your heart _truly_ desire the other scroll?"

Kisame shrugged. "Of course, I desire knowledge above all, Silver."

 _You're so full of shit,_ Kakashi wanted to say but refrained. He was rather invested in the result.

If what Kisame claimed was true, they could find the damned scroll and conveniently destroy it.

But alas, it was not that easy.

The traps Kisame warned against quickly made themselves known. There was something about the deserted Uzushio that was deeply unsettling. Kakashi quickly learned that random objects in this town were imbued with power with the use of ancient and complicated seals now lost to history.

"Dammit didn't we deal with enough evil sentient artefacts already?" Kakashi growled when a _cup_ tried to assault him. His kunai made it shatter on impact but the thing _reformed_ and tried to strike again.

They shunshined away rather than attempt to battle it out.

"Tread with more caution, alright?" Kisame said. Kakashi wanted to throttle him, except he was very tall and already very blue in the face. He decided to save his efforts for a more winning strategy.

"You're cute when you pout," Kisame cooed, making Kakashi reconsider his latest decision.

"I'm even cuter when I'm mad, aren't I?" he rejoined dryly earning a guffaw from Kisame.

"Damn right," Kisame said but they were yet again distracted by what seemed like a dead city come back to life. The sinister feeling in the air rose.

"Perhaps Konoha was right to never tempt us into visiting this place." Kakashi was feeling uneasy now. "This looks like a very bad adaptation of Beauty and the Beast."

"Don't worry, Beauty. The Beast will protect you," Kisame gave him a sharky grin full of sharp teeth and swung _samehada_ off his shoulders.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and jumped into the fray after him.

When they made it out of Uzushio they were severely battered but successful. Artefacts chased them out by the dozen but Kisame managed to skillfully evade them with his sailing skills and water jutsu. The scroll they retrieved bore signs of damage, smudged seals nullifying the powers it claimed to have.

Kakashi was all around _done_ with the Akatsuki. "This was a very bad idea."

"What was?"

"Joining Akatsuki," Kakashi grumbled, feeling weary to his bones.

"Aw Silver, you're gonna break my heart," Kisame said.

"Oh, shut up—" Kakashi began to snap when a monstrous wave rose and a pink blur landed on their ship. "Oh, _fuck_."

Kisame was already swinging at her but Kakashi was faster. In a split second, he had his arm around her waist and his elbow blocking Kisame’s hit. "Don't," he said icily.

His partner stepped back warily to survey their invader. "Huh. If it isn't the great Haruno Sakura."

Sakura’s fierce glare was on Kakashi. And in the next moment, she had her hand curled around his throat ready to crush him. "Explain," she hissed venomously, "what the fuck you think you're doing?"

Kisame shifted to strike again but Kakashi raised his palm in a halting gesture, his gaze locked with Sakura's furious green eyes.

"Undercover. Mission." He managed to wheeze.

Sakura held him under her scrutiny for a few more agonising seconds of breathlessness.

And then tossed him aside. "Self-appointed undercover mission," she translated angrily. "You're a _missing-nin_."

"Alright Pinkie let’s calm down and chit chat," Kisame began in his usual casual manner.

Kakashi facepalmed when Sakura pinned him to the ship post in a blink. "I have never been further away from calm in my entire _life_. I'm a millisecond away from crushing your throat and his, so don't fucking provoke me."

Kisame wisely kept his mouth shut. Sakura let him go with a huff and turned to Kakashi who was back on his feet. "Talk," she demanded. "And make it short."

"It was Itachi's mission," he said helplessly. "I have to finish what he started."

Her lips pursed. "And him?" she jerked her head in Kisame's direction.

Kisame was watching her attentively now; all signs of humour were erased from his face. He looked dangerous like this, shark eyes studying her every twitch.

"He's on our side," Kakashi promised. "We've been working to dismantle the Akatsuki from the inside out and it's _working_. We've already ruined two of their plans and set them back indefinitely."

Sakura looked like she’d been chewing a sour lemon. Her features were hard, and her eyes held so much anger. She took a steadying breath and slowly released it. “I’m supposed to kill you,” she said plainly.

Her face was completely passive but for the stormy green of her eyes. They were always so expressive.

To Kakashi’s increasing bewilderment, Kisame stepped in front of him, shielding him from view with his larger build. “You’d have to go through me, Pinkie. No matter how cute you are, I don’t intend on losing another partner.”

Kakashi stepped from around Kisame, intent on putting an end to this ridiculous charade when Sakura scoffed. “‘Supposed to’ doesn’t mean I will.”

Hope blossomed in Kakashi’s chest; the last thing he wanted was to fight Sakura. Not only was it going to be a fatal fight, he also didn’t think he had it in him to hurt a comrade, especially her. 

“Then why are you here?” It was Kisame who asked. Kakashi looked at him trying to decipher his strange tone. There was an edge there in his voice. “... trying to convince him to return aren’t you?”

Sakura’s gaze didn’t hold distaste per se, but the downward curl of her lips suggested she didn’t appreciate explaining herself to Kisame. “Will you try to stop me?”

“He needs to stay,” Kisame commanded, tone hard. Kakashi was floored by this. He looked to the blue man with surprise. “He needs to stay if we’re going to have a real chance in defeating Akatsuki.”

“No. He needs to come back to Konoha where he’d have the support and back up he needs to take them down. Most importantly, he needs to come back and plead innocent before the higher council.” Sakura’s eyes slid to Kakashi, and he was sure he could read the edge of her desperation there. His heart squeezed regretfully.

“I can’t,” he told her sadly. “Even you know I can’t.”

Sakura’s lips pressed into a hard line. “Try.”

“I’ll be hung for treason,” Kakashi told her gently. “I can’t return without achieving this goal. I can’t return without proof that I was working undercover. It’d be too suspicious, they’d never trust me again. If not an outright death sentence, I’d still be stripped of my rank and tossed in a cell. You _know_ this.”

Sakura’s lip gave the faintest wobble. “Why… why did you have to do this? You’re so goddamn stupid, Kakashi. Didn’t you stop to consider what’ll happen to us?”

His heart twinged, and he clenched his fists against the waves of guilt sweeping through him. “You know I wasn’t thinking.”

“I should’ve stopped Tsunade-shishou,” Sakura muttered darkly to herself. Kakashi recognised the self-loathing she felt; he identified so deeply with it. “You were in no condition… god fucking dammit.”

“Just go home, Sakura,” he told her tiredly. “Tell them you couldn’t find me. Hell, tell them I’m dead.”

Sakura shook her head, agitated. “You don’t understand. It’s chaos back home. The council is furious. Their two top ninja went rogue to join Akatsuki. They’re out for blood. If I don’t bring you back they’ll just send Naruto. And if not him they’ll send Yamato-taichou. And if not him, maybe they’ll contact Suna for back up. It’s really bad.”

Kakashi’s spine felt like it was made of ice. Once upon a time it was him hunting Konoha’s traitors. To find himself in those unfamiliar shoes still left him nauseous. 

“Let them try,” Kisame promised darkly. 

Her sharp green eyes cut to him like a lethal kunai. 

“What part of that did you not fucking understand?” she demanded. “They’ll kill him.”

“I won’t let them,” Kisame said with conviction. “I swear on my own life.”

Kakashi suddenly found himself experiencing a vague feeling; like a carpet swept from under his feet. It took him a moment to regain his balance. “Kisame…”

“And…” Kisame added meaningfully, “If you’re so afraid for his life, no one is stopping you from staying.”

Sakura’s mouth dropped open. Kisame had finally struck her speechless. Her calm facade crumbled, leaving behind a thunderstruck expression. “ _W-what_?” she spluttered, eyes wide and uncomprehending. 

“Stay,” Kisame repeated with more conviction. “Imagine what we could achieve together, the three of us. With a skillset like yours you’d save us months if not years worth of work.”

“I can’t betray Konoha!” Sakura cried, outraged.

“You’re not,” Kisame stressed. “You’d be doing it a favour. What the Akatsuki is planning… it’ll leave it in rubble. Nothing is going to survive this attack Haruno, I can’t stress this enough. No one, anywhere, is going to be safe. Not me, not you, certainly not Konoha.”

Sakura’s mouth clicked shut. Her fists curled. “And what … what are they planning exactly?”

“An eternal dream, the resurrection of a legend. An apocalypse.” Kakashi answered for him. “It’s… it’s really bad Sakura. They’re planning to create a ten tailed beast, the unification of all nine and they’re already nearly there.”

Sakura’s face paled. 

“It’s true,” Kisame nodded. “And once it starts, there’s no stopping it. Our only hope is destroying their plan before it ever commences.”

“And why did you ever betray them?” she asked, sounding nearly bitter. Kakashi understood. She hated this. She hated that they ever got here. 

Kakashi hated it too.

“I never had an interest in world domination,” Kisame said with a wry smile. “I left Kirigakure because there was no salvation. This doesn’t sound any better. And you have to admit an eternal dream is a stupid fucking way to go.”

“Damn right,” Sakura growled. Her eyes fell to the floor in a murderous glare. Kakashi was genuinely confused when the planks didn’t catch fire. 

“You can go back to Konoha and wait it out…” Kisame suggested, tone loaded. “Or… you can work with us from the inside out. Up to you, Pinkie.”

“Go home,” Kakashi cajoled.

“I’ll stay,” Sakura responded with a hard look.

* * *

She stayed, much to Kakashi’s secret terror.

And yet, a part of him was grateful. Because her staying meant he’d never need to be on the opposite side of her fists, it meant they had a better chance at putting an end to Akatsuki once and for all. He mourned the loss of her comfort, he mourned for those at home who would think they lost another one of their greatest shinobi—the Hokage’s apprentice herself.

Tsunade was going to kill them for this. Maybe literally.

Kakashi only hoped she’d know Sakura well enough to clue in on what was happening.

“Here,” Kisame said to her once they reached his hideout. It was the same hideout he’d taken Kakashi to that first day he joined when he was still reeling from confusion and grief. It felt like a lifetime ago already although it was closer to a few months. “You can stay here until I notify the Akatsuki of your decision.”

Sakura looked a little stiff. Undoubtedly feeling the same way Kakashi felt when he was standing in her spot; wary and uncomfortable with sharing her space with an S-class criminal.

It was a simple room. There was one king sized bed, a couch and a kitchenette. A door in the corner revealed a small bathroom. 

No windows. 

Sakura let out a slow breath. “I’ll take the floor.”

“I don’t bite, Pinkie,” Kisame smiled sharply. “Unless you’d like that of course.”

“I’ll knock your teeth out,” she warned. 

“Feisty,” Kisame chortled recklessly. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

Kisame rested Samehada against the wall, and took off his Akatsuki coat. Beneath it he was clad in a simple pair of combat trousers and a mesh vest. He sprawled on the bed without a care and reached for the novel he’d been reading.

Sakura looked to Kakashi with a hint of bewilderment. He shrugged. 

“I thought we would be going on a mission,” Sakura said unsurely. 

“We just came back from one,” Kisame said. “Even super villains need a weekend, Pinkie. Simmer down, get yourself a cup of tea. We’ll talk business later.”

“Stop calling me that,” she huffed, warily reaching for her weapons pouch. She took it off and left it at one of the unoccupied shelves. “It’s annoying.”

“I think it’s cute,” Kisame said offhandedly, flipping a page in his book. “And you have pink hair.”

“Contrary to popular belief, I’m very aware of that,” Sakura responded drily. 

“I’m sticking with Pinkie,” Kisame announced, unwisely if you asked Kakashi. “And he's Silver.”

Kakashi expected Sakura to react with violence. But instead she smirked. “Very well, Sharky.”

Kisame let out a howl of laughter. “Sharky?”

“Would you prefer Icicle? What about Bluie?” She challenged, sounding very amused.

Kisame looked vaguely concerned. “ _Bluie_? I’m not a plushie, Pinkie.”

“That’s irrelevant,” Sakura decided and headed for the cabinet to acquire tea.

Kakashi watched her curiously. While she still radiated a feeling of unease, she moved around freely, trying to display an aura of being nonchalant. Kakashi supposed he knew her so well that she couldn’t fool him. 

“What are you reading?” she poked, voice carefully neutral as she stirred sugar into her tea. 

“The Wind Rises,” Kisame responded, equally neutral. 

“... I didn’t peg you as a romantic.” Sakura’s eyebrows raised. This got Kakashi’s attention, his eyebrows climbing too. He hadn’t read the book before so he had no way of knowing. It seemed Kisame was hellbent on continuing to blow his mind and defy all expectations. 

“You’d be surprised,” Kisame sent her a mysterious grin. 

Kakashi stepped up to Sakura’s side to make a cup of coffee. “Please ignore his incessant flirting,” he advised her. “He’s always like this.”

“And here I thought I was special,” Sakura rejoined.

“Shut up, Silver,” Kisame said, without bite. “And let me have my fun.”

“As long as you keep your hands to yourself,” Kakashi allowed. “Well, unless you fancy broken fingers.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Broken fingers would be the least of your worries. I’m not above breaking more delicate anatomy.”

“Oof,” Kisame whistled softly. “Careful or you’ll turn me on.”

And to his surprise, Sakura _laughed_ , finally relaxing. How utterly, bizarrely strange. He decided not to question it and count his blessings instead.

Kakashi waited for her to settle down to ask. “Are you … are you absolutely sure about this?”

Sakura’s shoulders slumped a little. “No, of course not. Are you?”

“No,” Kakashi said truthfully. “But it is what it is.”

“It’s been a year and a half, Kakashi,” she said softly, staring into her teacup. “That’s a really long time.”

“I bet you hate me,” he agreed with a sigh. 

“I don’t hate you,” Sakura denied, sounding weary; her voice held an unfamiliar thickness. “I just deeply want to throttle you.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t yet,” he agreed again. 

“Don’t tempt me,” she warned with a quirk to her lips. “It’s not entirely off the table yet.”

They lapsed into silence, Kakashi’s mind swirling with thoughts about the past and the future. New worries sprouted in the wake of Sakura’s decision. He feared for her life much like he used to in the past. And now she no longer had the protection of her village.

Now it was only them and Kisame against the world.

* * *

It turned out to be not so bad. Having a piece of home with him was unexpectedly comforting. And Kisame seemed to take a strange liking to Sakura though Kakashi feared it was mutual.

His rose-haired ex-student spent hours bantering with the shark-like man, trading roasts, flirting and discussing books of the romance variety. Kakashi thought perhaps Sakura was trying to get to know Kisame to be able to achieve a sense of peace but he had a hunch it reached further than that now.

He mostly left them to their devices, but soon after something strange started happening. 

Kisame was a subtle man for the most part, so it was weird to Kakashi that he’d be so blunt about anything. 

It started with a random conversation.

“You said she was your student?” Kisame had inquired one day, seemingly innocent.

“Very briefly. We were teammates,” Kakashi had said, not thinking much of it. It wasn’t unlike Kisame to strike a conversation out of boredom. 

“Right. So you’re close.”

“I’d say so.”

“And she’s single.”

“As far as I know but I fail to see how that concerns you.”

And that was that. Kakashi didn’t think much of it then. 

“What about her love interests?” Kisame asked him another day. 

Kakashi was honestly clueless. “She loved her teammate from childhood. _Why_ are you asking me this?”

“I’m testing your degree of blindness,” Kisame had said bluntly.

“ _Excuse me_?”

And that was the end of it yet again. 

“Then how about you?” Kisame inquired a few weeks into Sakura’s official recruitment into the Akatsuki.

“What about me?”

“Love interests,” Kisame said casually.

“...but you _know_ who.” Kakashi quirked a brow. 

“Yes but surely he wasn’t your one and only, always,” Kisame rolled his eyes.

“Why is this important at all??”

“Indulge me.”

“Jeez,” Kakashi huffed. “It was just him.”

“No one else at all? Not even a silly crush?”

Well, no, that wouldn’t be true. Kakashi had plenty of silly crushes, two of them had even been on his team. There was Minato-sensei when Kakashi was twelve, and it was his most well-kept secret to date. He shuddered to think what some of his friends would do with that information, not that it mattered much anymore. 

And there was … Kakashi shook his head to dislodge the thought. It was silly. Sometimes Kakashi had strange attractions to abstract things, like the way someone sounded or spoke. It didn’t mean anything. 

“It’s not like you’d know them if I told you,” Kakashi told Kisame, and left the room to end that conversation.

But the man simply _didn’t let up_.

“How about people who had crushes on you?”

“How the fuck would I know?”

“No one ever confessed their undying love for you?”

“I’m a ninja and half of my face is covered.” Kakashi gave him a deeply skeptical look because that _should_ explain everything. 

“Some would find that kinky,” Kisame teased.

He was insufferable. “Well if they did, I had no idea.”

“No one, absolutely no one gave you the vibe that they like you?”

And by then Kakashi had reached his limit. “What is this _really_ about? All this beating around the bush is giving me a headache, Kisame.”

“Nothing,” Kisame backed off instantly. “Just curious.”

Kakashi was immediately suspicious. “About my love life,” Kakashi demanded disbelievingly. 

“Maybe I fancy you,” Kisame deflected with a suggestive wink.

Yeah, right. Kakashi rolled his eyes. “Please make up a more convincing lie, you’re embarrassing yourself, _Bluie_.”

Sakura exited the bathroom then, her wet hair gathered in a towel. She glared at Kisame for some obscure reason. “Leave him be,” she hissed at the man.

And while Kakashi appreciated her siding with him, her fury made absolutely no sense to him. Why was Sakura personally invested in his privacy, anyway?

“What?” Kisame said innocently yet his smile reeked scandal as he let Kakashi be.

Something was definitely fishy. Kakashi decided it was time he got to the bottom of it. 

But first, mission.

* * *

“This is fucked up,” Sakura swore, wading through waist high sewage. “So fucked up.”

Kakashi’s nose was gone. Abused to hell and back. Dead, never to recover. His eyes were stinging at this point. He wanted to agree but he was afraid the simple act of opening his mouth would prove damning. The smell alone was incapacitating, he didn’t need to taste it on his tongue. 

“We should be almost there,” Kisame announced, his flashlight trained on a crumbled and dirty map. 

“Kakashi looks like he's gonna pass out,” Sakura grumbled, but Kakashi didn’t deign her with a response. He was too far gone. 

“Hang in there, princess,” Kisame consoled. 

Heartless. He was a heartless bastard. 

They stopped when Kisame did and waited until he created a hole in the ceiling. Their mission carried them to the heart of Kiri this time—Kisame seemed to be in his element navigating this place. The Akatsuki required an important document from one of Kiri’s top secret vaults, though what they planned to do with it was unclear to Kakashi. 

“What happens now?” Sakura whispered when the ceiling gave out with a hiss. A chunk of concrete splashed into the sewage and Kakashi nealy gagged.

“Now we get the heck outta this place,” Kisame muttered, heaving himself through the exit he created.

Moments later he signalled to them that it was safe to follow. 

They found themselves in a dark corridor. It was cold and eerie and gave nothing away but Kisame turned right like he had a destination in mind.

A sharp left led them to another dark corridor, this one faintly lit with the warm glow seeping from a door crack. Shadows wavered beyond it, immediately putting them on high alert. Kisame placed a palm on each of their shoulders and guided them towards the adjacent wall. He leaned to murmur in Kakashi’s ear. “How many?”

“Three,” Kakashi said faintly. He could smell all three distinctive scents. A woman and two men. One of them was a heavy smoker. 

“Ceiling,” he commanded and together they scaled the wall with minimal chakra. But sure enough, the little burst alerted the people inside. 

Somebody hissed and the door cracked open. 

The woman darted out, eyes scanning left and right. “Kei I swear if this is you messing around again _I will hang you by your balls._ ”

Sakura slipped a pair of senbon out of her pouch. It was probably occurring to her that nothing they did now reflected on or tied back to Konoha. They were free agents, their decisions were their own.

That was about the only thing Kakashi could stomach about his new status; just how easy it was to act without starting an international war. 

Between two silent breaths, Sakura’s senbon struck their target. The woman dropped. A moment of silence followed. 

The three of them tensed in preparation for the battle that would follow. The enemy had gone quiet, no doubt sensing the encroaching threat of enemy ninja. 

Nobody moved. 

It was clear the Kiri nin wanted them to breach the room first rather than meet them headfirst in the dark hallway. 

Sakura cracked her knuckles. “Let’s see if we can draw them out.”

The gleam of her smile was frightening as she disappeared without a trace.

Moments later, the wall of the room exploded.

* * *

Sakura had managed to decapitate one of the men with her attack, but the remaining one proved entirely too troublesome. He was like a roach, and no amount of hits would permanently take him down. 

But eventually, with Sakura’s clever use of chakra, she was able to render his limbs useless. 

“I didn’t realise somebody outside the Hyuuga could use that technique,” Kakashi stated, a heavy question lying beneath his casual tone. 

“No one can,” Sakura agreed. “That wasn’t the Jyuuken. I simply replicated their style of hitting tenketsu points. Obviously I can’t see exactly where they are, but as a medic I know where all of them are located. Striking them over and over weakens the nerves and causes loss of motor functions. Very helpful trick.”

“How did you replicate their style?” Kakashi asked, nearly gaping. 

“I’ve been training with Neji and Hinata,” she sounded fond, nearly sad. Nostalgia no doubt. 

Kisame butted in as always, and swiftly ruined the tender moment by draping a big, muscular arm around Sakura and leering, “What else can you medics do with tenketsu points?”

Sakura, as usual, took it in stride. “Is that an invitation to show you?”

“It depends,” Kisame said. “On whether the loss of function you mentioned is permanent.”

“Reasonable enough,” Sakura’s lips were resisting a smile and failing. “There are other more pleasant uses of medical chakra that doesn’t involve tenketsu points, I assure you.”

“Wait—” It was Kakashi who interrupted this time. He realised moments later that what he wanted to say might be inappropriate, but it was too late to back out. “I always wondered if … if what Jiraiya wrote into _Icha Icha_ was realistic or not,” he said, face flushing under his mask. 

Sakura seemed to understand what he was talking about instantly. The gleam in her eyes was telling—the splatter of blood on her cheek made her look vicious. “You mean… that scene where Maiko uses her chakra to make Takao last longer?”

In the back of his head he’d always been aware that Sakura probably read _Icha Icha_ at some point in her life, if not out of morbid curiosity then definitely because her blond best friend made her do it. The fact confirmed however, came with a little pleasant jolt.

“Yes, that scene,” he said quietly, meeting her eyes. He was almost afraid of what he’d find there.

Sakura’s eyelashes lowered in thought. “What she did is achievable,” she murmured. “With fine enough chakra control, a medic nin can control the flow of blood and chakra pathways. It’s a little risky otherwise—I’m sure not many people would risk trying it. What Maiko did was—well, what she did was essentially what a cockring does.”

Kakashi’s mouth dried.

She didn’t blush, or look embarrassed. Kisame for once, didn’t seem to have a ready comeback or a joke to make. His eyes were on Kakashi, in fact, heavy and meaningful.

Once upon a time, years ago, Kakashi had a crush on Sakura. It wasn’t anything serious at first—a physical attraction that he couldn’t seem to ignore. He suppressed it hard as Sakura was dating someone back then and he’d begun to see Itachi in a romantic light. 

Itachi took center stage afterwards, but in the back of his mind he always desired her even when he tried his best not to. 

And now, with those words on her tongue and that sly look in her eyes, it all slammed back into Kakashi unforgivingly.

He quickly looked away, afraid she’d be able to tell how much she turned him on with just a few words.

“That’s…” he began and took a settling breath. “Very interesting.”

The sound of Kisame distinctly facepalming was not lost on Kakashi, but he decided to ignore it. It wouldn’t do to get distracted while still in enemy territory.

And Kakashi would be more than glad to leave Kiri and its eeriness and disgusting sewers behind.

Gods he needed a shower. Amongst other things. 

He knew better than to ask Kisame to stop however, as he was not in the mood for one of his random icy showers, though they would certainly help in some cases.

He hurried ahead of them, eager to return to base. “It’s getting late, let's pick up the pace.”

“I’m sorry, Pinkie,” Kisame was saying, sounding genuinely sorry for Sakura.

Kakashi really didn’t understand these two.

He didn’t attempt to find out what it was all about. But he would know very soon.

* * *

Kakashi didn’t know what he expected upon their return. But it definitely wasn’t Sakura inviting Kisame into the shower with her.

“What?” Kakashi had gaped.

“What?” Sakura echoed with a shrug. “It saves water and there really isn’t enough of it. Especially hot water.”

“You’re welcome to join,” Kisame tossed him a grin over his shoulder and disappeared behind Sakura.

Kakashi stood frozen in his spot for a moment longer. And then he _bolted_.

Like _hell_ he was going to leave Kisame alone with a naked Sakura.

They both looked surprised when he slipped in after them but not unpleasantly so. In fact the flush of Sakura’s cheeks paired with her glittering green eyes made her look very pleased indeed. “Decided to join us?”

“Yes,” he confirmed even though the bathroom was already cramped with Kisame’s gigantic presence. 

Sakura didn’t seem concerned. Her fingers fumbled with her buttons and zippers, unabashedly stripping down to her bindings and panties. Kisame too, easily relinquished his clothes, taking off piece after piece until he was naked.

Kakashi was entirely torn between the sight of him and his … impressive anatomy, and Sakura’s round creamy breasts as her bindings came off. Pink nipples stood erect in the cool air, straining under Kakashi’s wide gaze.

He quickly looked away, and realised suddenly that he had to get naked too. 

He stood stiffly for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of his decision. But Kisame and Sakura were already crowding into the tub, Kisame turning the shower head on to hose him and Sakura. Sakura who was pink everywhere, down to the trimmed triangle between her thighs. 

Kakashi’s mouth watered at the sight of them. 

To hell with modesty anyway, he thought, and began hurriedly kicking his clothes off. His sandals, his trousers, his shirt. After a moment of contemplation, he reached for his mask and peeled it off.

Until, finally, he was as naked as them.

Sakura’s eyes blew wide when they landed on his bare face. Kisame, who was chuckling at Sakura’s earlier squeal courtesy of the shower-head’s barrage of freezing water, quieted suddenly and completely. 

Kakashi hoped he wasn’t blushing, now that he had nothing to hide behind. With bravado and a confidence he didn’t entirely feel, he stepped into the tub with them.

This pushed Sakura against Kisame’s solid front. Yet both of them seemed too distracted by the sight of him to pay it any heed.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” he said drily. However, he couldn’t ignore the secret part of him that enjoyed being the subject of their heated scrutiny and was revelling in their attention. 

Sakura was nearly gaping. “You’re—” she spluttered, turned her shocked gaze on Kisame. “Can you _believe_ him?”

“Why?” Kisame demanded as Sakura rounded on Kakashi again.

“Why?!” She, too, demanded.

“Why ... what?” He enunciated unsurely, feeling a little self-conscious now.

“Why would you hide a face like that?!” Sakura burst, outraged. “ _Why_?”

Kisame shook his head, exuding disbelief. “Hatake, you’re a fucking idiot.”

“What?” Kakashi said defensively. “It’s just a face.”

“Just a face, he says,” Sakura muttered to herself, turning to Kisame again. “Have you met a denser human being?”

“I’m afraid not,” Kisame responded gravely, his gaze still trained on Kakashi. “Silver … it pains me to admit but you’re a work of art.”

Kakashi felt his face instantly flame. “S-shut up,” he found himself saying while resisting the sudden maniacal urge to cover his face with his hand.

“He’s right,” Sakura nodded rapidly. “Kakashi this is… frankly ridiculous. You have the cheekbones of a god… fuck, I could cut myself on your jawline.”

This time, he couldn’t help it. He reached to cover his face with his hand, sure his cheeks were incandescent. Nothing would save him now—he nearly regretted taking the cloth off, but seeing that bright look in their eyes, something akin to desire, was so worth it.

To be desired by them … Kakashi bit the inside of his lip. He hadn’t entertained this fantasy before, but now that it sprouted in his head there was no stopping it. 

He turned his back to them for a moment to ground himself. “Better stop staring before it gets creepy,” he warned. “Pass me the shampoo.”

Moments later Kisame’s blue palm offered him the green bottle over Kakashi’s shoulder. “Are you always this shy?”

“I cover three-fourth of my face and my entire body, what do you think?” Kakashi said, desert dry.

“You read porn in public,” Sakura countered disbelievingly. 

“Okay point made,” Kakashi sighed, and turned back to face them with some reluctance. But the sight he arrived at more than made up for his embarrassment. 

The hot shower stream flushed Sakura’s skin beautifully, and glistened Kisame’s abs. They had no right, he decided, to look that edible. Especially when Sakura let Kisame scrub her back, her eyes shutting blissfully as he kneaded her shoulders. 

That image did things to Kakashi—it left him reeling. They passed him the shower spray to rinse his hair and he took it gratefully, shutting his eyes to savour the image now burned behind his eyelids. 

When he was done and his eyes opened, he found both Kisame and Sakura studying him and the running trails of water cutting tracks down his sculpted body. Perhaps they truly liked what they saw. Kakashi pondered that thought with pleasure.

But too soon they were done, and Kakashi had to watch glorious skin disappear back beneath plain clothing. It was criminal he decided, when he enjoyed the sight of them so much. “Here,” he passed Sakura a hairband when she was done drying her hair. “That was … certainly different.”

“Bad different or good different?” She smiled coyly. 

“No, good,” Kakashi admitted. “... I like that we’re at that level of trust.”

“Scrub my back I’ll scrub yours,” she said and chuckled at her own joke. “We’ve always been there, Kakashi. I’m glad you see it now.”

Her response puzzled him a bit but he didn’t bother overthinking it. Instead he grabbed _Icha Icha_ and settled on the couch to sink into his favourite story.

* * *

Something woke Kakahi up. At first he wasn’t sure what, but straining his ears made him realise the soft rustling of clothes was what he’d heard. A soft hitching breath, and then silence again.

Kakashi lay still as the night, his ears pricking for the faintest sounds. It came again in the form of a wet smack.

His eyes flew open, but he didn’t dare get up. The heap on Kisame’s bed shifted in the darkness. Kakashi’s eyes took a moment to adjust, but sure enough he could make out the rough outline of something moving.

The wet sound echoed again, like someone slurping on a drink. 

And then he understood. The pile of limbs became clearer, forming a sinful image cloaked in shadows. Sakura’s thighs pressed back against the mattress and Kisame’s face moving between them. 

Oh. _Oh_.

She had a hand clamped desperately to her mouth, stifling both her sounds and tenuous breaths.

Kisame didn’t put forth the same effort, humming desirously against her, his hips grinding rhythmically on the mattress. He had each one of her thighs in a big palm as his head bobbed eagerly.

Sakura was shaking. 

Kakashi watched as shudders wracked her body and her breath hitched again as she came. Gods, he could _smell_ her. 

“Come here,” she whispered to Kisame, pulling him up the length of her body. 

She scooted lower until her face was level with his crotch and took him in her mouth with considerable effort. Kisame grunted lowly, his hips moving against her.

Sakura sucked on the head, using both palms to stroke him until he was all but bucking into her mouth.

Kakashi was going to combust. Heat throbbed through him, ruthless and unforgiving at Kisame’s strained breaths and the gulping sounds Sakura made as she tried to swallow his cock. 

Discreetly, he reached to adjust himself, his own breaths wavering though he tried to control them. Sakura worked her mouth eagerly and Kisame’s breaths went ragged, and his elbows trembled as he came in her mouth.

She coughed a little, but Kakashi could tell she swallowed every last drop of him. 

Dammit, he was so turned on, he thought dizzily, feeling his stomach coil tightly with arousal. He held still despite the tension in his body skyrocketing to painful heights as the other two rearranged themselves in a reclined position, both breathing deeply.

“Thanks,” Sakura whispered eventually. 

“Anytime Pinkie,” Kisame replied, sounding somewhat amused. “I can’t deny needy, beautiful women.”

“You’re not so bad yourself y’know. And you definitely make up for a lot of stuff with _that_.” Sakura’s awed tone indicated exactly which parts of Kisame’s anatomy she was addressing.

Frankly, Kakashi was inclined to agree.

“Do you plan to tell him?” He asked her after a long pause in which Kakashi very carefully regulated his breathing. The last thing he wanted was to be caught now after all was said and done.

“I’m not crazy,” Sakura huffed softly. “Of course not.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Kisame reasoned. Kakashi had never heard him sound so sincere “He doesn’t seem like the type of guy who’d hold it against you.”

Now Kakashi was terribly, terribly intrigued as well as turned on. It was … a discombobulating combination, to say the least.

“He’s still grieving the loss of the guy he loved, Bluie,” Sakura sighed. “I’m not going to complicate that.”

“Do you find this complicated?” Kisame asked. Kakashi could only guess Kisame meant himself and Sakura and what just transpired. Kakashi was also now certain that the subject of their discussion was him.

“No, but this is different… there’s no history here.” Sakura sounded morose. “Honestly just forget what I told you. Half of it can be charted up to stupid hormones.”

“But you love him,” Kisame reminded gently.

“Not the most terrible thing I’ve ever done,” agreed Sakura.

In the silence that followed, Kakashi was left thunderstruck. It took everything in him not to jolt up and demand an explanation, clarifications, anything… loved him. _Loved_ him. That was the most absurd and amazing thing he’d ever heard.

Kakashi didn’t know what he did to deserve that; what could have possibly persuaded one of the sweetest, most sincere and accomplished women in his life to harbour such feelings for him. He could barely comprehend her confession, the longing in her tone, the unmistakable fondness.

What had he missed? How could he have been so blind? 

But Kakashi knew of course. He had been entirely taken by all that was Itachi; his voice, his kindness, the way he smiled, the soft confessions on a pillow collecting dust back home. And while he had no trouble acknowledging Sakura’s attractiveness he’d never had enough space to ponder any of it. There was Itachi, the center of his universe, and little else beyond that.

And while Kakashi doubted that would ever change… while he was certain this melancholy was here to stay, and this hole in his heart would never be filled again … he found he felt a novel sense of excitement at the prospect that he was able to desire anyone at all after all that had happened.

He wasn’t broken beyond repair, it would seem.

He waited for them to fall asleep, replaying their conversation in his head over and over. It didn’t settle his persistent erection, but it certainly gave him something to mull over until he could go take care of it.

Perhaps he owed Sakura an apology for never realising her feelings for him. He listened to their breathing deepen, to the soothing rise and fall of their chests.

Tentatively, Kakashi got up, feeling unbalanced. He was still reeling from what he’d overheard, and now that he could see them, he found them tucked against each other, Sakura’s head of pink hair looking almost delicate on the backdrop of Kisame’s muscled shoulder.

He had one meaty arm protectively wrapped around her, and his face bowed against her head. Kakashi slipped into the bathroom before his presence could rouse them and looked down long-sufferingly at the impressive tent in his pants. 

He had no Kisame to help him out, unfortunately.

But the sight of the bathtub where they'd crowded together just a few days ago sent a sharp tingle through him. He could still recall the naked stretch of Sakura’s back, the curve of her chest, the scarred lean expanse of her torso. And there was Kisame’s muscular back, lined with scar tissue and his slick abs and his giant cock. 

Kakashi’s hand slipped down his briefs to fist himself.

He’d wanted them then. Ignoring them was harder than he’d expected. He’d entertained thoughts of climbing Kisame since the day he’d discovered just what laid beneath his clothes. And Sakura… he’d always wanted Sakura, long before he left Konoha, ever since she was appointed chief of Konoha General five years ago.

Kakashi took a shaky breath, working his hand firmly up and down his length. He could still hear her wavering breaths as Kisame worked her up, could still smell her arousal. Could recall the needy gulping noises she made as she took Kisame in her mouth, as he moved his hips against her.

He wished he could’ve seen her pretty lips straining around the girth of him. Better yet he wished she was here on her knees, tongue sticking out as she coaxed him to come in her mouth too. 

Kakashi jerked himself faster, the hot tension in his body sinking lower and lower. His balls were drawing tighter as his imagination ran away from him, now imagining Sakura splayed between him and Kisame, Kakashi working her throat as Kisame pounded into her; Sakura moaning around his cock as Kisame rubbed her slick folds; Sakura choking on his length, moving her hips erratically as she slurped him down.

He groaned lowly, spilling over his fist. Tension slowly bled out of him, but Kakashi discovered he didn’t yet feel satisfied. In fact, a strange feeling of unfulfillment lingered, the faint stirrings of arousal still swirling in his gut. 

He wanted them. 

Kakashi groaned.

Life had indeed just gotten a lot more troublesome.

* * *

It took him a while to work up the nerve to confront Sakura. Days passed, and another successful mission was accomplished and incidentally they found themselves on the seedier side of town toasting over cheap beer and buzzing with adrenaline. 

Kisame without his cloak didn’t look any less menacing, but the bulging muscles of his biceps and the swell of his muscular body was attracting more than just Kakashi and Sakura’s heated attention. Men and women ogled him openly, drinking in the sight of his long torso and the delicious straining tendons of his neck.

“So rude,” Sakura, who was sitting next to Kisame, murmured as another woman passed by their table only to send him a flirtatious grin, all too full of dirty promises. The sway of their hips tried hard to cajole Kisame to follow them.

Kisame only had eyes for his companions. “Maybe if you’d sit on my lap they’d be less inclined.” He winked suggestively at Sakura.

Kakashi watched as her expression rearranged to a look of determination and before he knew it, Sakura was straddling Kisame’s hips. 

The booth behind them lost some of its ravenous spirits. They noticeably quietened as Sakura leaned to press her mouth over Kisame’s neck. “Like this?”

“Mhmm.” 

She took a moment to suckle on his skin, leaving hot kisses up the column of his neck. “Are they looking?” She murmured in his ear as her teeth worked his earlobe. 

Kisame’s hands settled on her hips, tightening with his growing tension. “Yes,” he rumbled, meeting Kakashi’s eyes over her head.

He was stunned by Sakura’s boldness, by the challenge in Kisame’s eyes. 

Sakura blocked his view as her mouth covered Kisame’s. Kisame didn’t idle, sinking one big palm in her hair and clenching firmly as he returned her kiss. His other hand rubbed her thigh, and he growled softly into her mouth.

Moments later his mouth was attached to the exposed skin of Sakura’s shoulder, biting and kissing. His eyes trained on Kakashi again, and this time he offered an unrefusable invitation. “Come here,” Kisame demanded of him, his eyes so full of liquid desire he looked downright dangerous.

Arousal spiked through Kakashi, damning and unforgiving. The alcohol in his system was like a reckless drug, propelling him to heed his desires, to slide out of his seat and join their side of the booth.

Sakura’s pupils were dilated when Kisame drew away from her to grasp the back of Kakashi’s neck. Without another warning, Kisame’s lips crashed against his own in a bruising kiss.

A rowdy cry and a bunch of whistles rose in the background as Kisame kissed him through his mask. And when he pulled back to stare at Sakura expectantly, Kakashi’s eyes widened.

Sakura turned to look at him, and he saw the exact moment she found her resolve.

She twisted in Kisame’s lap, slung one arm over Kakashi’s back and pulled him in for a kiss.

He gasped at the feeling of her plush lips through his mask; and just as soon as his surprise wore off, he found himself clutching her hip and kissing her back.

She kissed him eagerly, soft wanton moans pressed into his mouth until Kakashi feared he’d go mad from it. But too soon, Kisame was pulling Sakura away and back to his solid embrace and the heat of his own mouth for a final, hungry kiss.

They stared at each other, the three of them struck by the tension brewing so hotly between their clammy bodies. 

“See?” Kisame murmured to Sakura. “See how well this works?”

“What works?” Kakashi rasped, his mouth dry.

“Us,” Kisame said, pressing his thumb to the soft flesh of Sakura’s bottom lip. “The three of us. If you two would get over yourselves already.”

Kakashi swallowed thickly. Sakura looked barely composed as she met his gaze.

“I…” she said, face heavily blushed and eyes lidded.

Kakashi watched her struggle to form the words and didn’t want to torment her any longer.

“I know,” he told her simply, without further explanation.

Understanding dawned on her. “So you…?”

“I don’t know about love,” he told her honestly, gently. “But this,” he looked between them, to the scant inches that kept shrinking and found that he really wanted this. “I want this.”

Kisame smirked at his pink haired companion. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Now invite him to bed … you want this, I know you do.”

Sakura’s mouth opened and closed. The heady look in her eyes was driving Kakashi mad. In the end she leaned in for another kiss, to whisper a plea against his eager mouth. 

“Yes,” Kakashi strained, kissing her harder. “ _Yes_.”

The trip from their booth to the inn above passed in flashes of disjointed memory, Kisame’s rough hands on their hips, the hot whisper of his voice crawling down Kakashi’s spine to settle heavily in his gut.

They stumbled in, Kisame pressing Sakura to the wall by her hips. “Look at me,” he said, his hand framing her jaw. “Do you want this?”

“Yes,” she hissed, her body taut with tension. “Fuck, _please_.”

Kakashi throbbed with her growing desire, with the heat Kisame elicited with just the rough pads of his fingers on Kakashi’s wrist. 

“You hear this?” He told Kakashi, his eyes glimmering. “She wants _you_. So fucking take her.”

Kakashi’s body moved without further ado. He ripped his mask off, and his lips crashed down on hers, his hands sinking under her clothes to paw at her skin. He pressed on her hip bone, squeezed her thighs, massaged her breasts until she gasped into his mouth.

The sinuous line of Kisame’s body melding against his back caused an interesting shiver to snake down his spine. Calloused palms settled on his hips and Kisame’s shivery breath rolled across the skin of his neck. “Touch her,” he said huskily, “she’s been so wound up for you.” Kisame’s hand slipped down Kakashi’s front to palm his growing erection. “Take her panties off and see for yourself.”

Sakura was close to trembling when Kakashi’s fingers sunk down the front of her panties to tease his fingers along her slick folds. Her breaths hitched, and her hips rocked forward eagerly. “Oh gods, please,” she gasped brokenly, and clutched at Kakashi’s arm. “Please.”

Kakashi groaned as he slipped a finger inside her wet heat. She was soaked already, her body drawing him in eagerly. He touched her unhurriedly, plunging his finger inside her until her walls shuddered, and then added another.

Her gasping moans rose, and Kisame’s hand squeezed tightly around him before it too slipped down Kakashi’s pants. His lips left wet kisses behind Kakashi’s ear, sucking until Kakashi growled. 

His hand slipped out of Sakura’s panties only to press his slick fingers between her lips. The sultry green of her eyes drank him in as her velvety tongue ran between his digits, suckling him sensually.

“How do we do this?” He said roughly, his hips struggling not to buck into Kisame’s touch.

“Do you want her mouth?” Kisame whispered huskily as they watched Sakura lick and suck on his fingers until she elicited a shiver from Kakashi.

“Gods yes,” he said, already imagining how it would feel to slip his cock between her pretty lips, to watch the way she strained to accommodate him. 

“Then you can fuck her throat,” Kisame’s palm stroked him harder, making him groan.

They ended up on the bed, Sakura a squirming needy creature between them, feeding gasoline to the burning desire in both men. She fumbled with Kakashi’s buttons upside down, her head hanging off the edge of the bed and her hot breath permeating through the material of his pants. Meanwhile Kisame was dragging her panties down her smooth legs. He tossed them aside to run his hands appreciatively over her naked body.

The button gave, and her fingers shook as she took hold of him and freed him of the bothersome confines of his pants. She wriggled up, her tongue rolling out to slick the head.

Kakashi growled as he slipped into the hot cavern of her mouth, her tongue teasingly caressing him. 

Kisame chose that moment to dive between her thighs. His mouth latched onto her clit, and he hummed at the sweet taste of her, parting her thighs wide for him and pressing two thick digits inside her heat. 

Sakura cried wantonly around Kakashi’s cock, her fingernails pressing crescent moons into his thighs.

Kisame worked her mercilessly, plunging his fingers three knuckles deep inside her, and then adding a third finger, which sent Sakura’s body wild. She squirmed desperately, trying hard to focus on pleasuring Kakashi too as Kisame threw her headfirst into a sea of pleasure.

Kakashi couldn’t take his eyes off the sight of her splayed between the two of them, her body trembling deliciously as she gushed around Kisame’s fingers and drooled around Kakashi’s cock.

He ran appreciative hands across the firm globes of her chest, across straining nipples as he slid down her throat. It vibrated with her lustful sounds, each moan drawing out shivers. 

Soon, she was coming. Her thighs trembled and her moans rose, and Kakashi’s eyes shut with a groan at the feeling of her throat working over him. 

Kisame withdrew his fingers, offering them to Kakashi. He held his gaze as Kakashi’s lips parted for Kisame to press his drenched fingers across his tongue. He sucked him slowly, to the rhythm of his long thrusts into Sakura’s mouth.

Kisame huffed softly, running those same fingers down Sakura’s taut stomach, down to her core where he left a few wet taps that made her shudder. 

His eyes followed Kisame’s hand as it grasped the base of his cock and used the head to tease Sakura, coating himself with her arousal. His eyes met Kakashi, and he smirked. “Don’t choke, Pinkie,” was his only warning before he pressed into her.

Sakura’s nails dug in Kakashi’s thighs and she sobbed around him as Kisame settled fully inside her.

“Oh fuck,” Kakashi said, watching wide-eyed as Kisame’s impressive girth almost split her in two. 

The growl Kisame made in his throat, and his big hands spanning Sakura’s rib cage nearly made Kakashi come. Kisame didn’t move right away, affording Sakura a minute to adjust. He used his thumb to stroke her, over and over, until Sakura was shaking again, choking on mewls.

Kakashi was a goner. His hips snapped harder, unable to restrain himself. The sight of her throat swallowing him whole was going to ruin him forever; the way her tongue poke out to slither over him was surely going to visit him in his dreams from now on. 

Then Kisame began to move; slow grinding rolls of his hips that made the purring vibrations in Sakura’s throat turn constant and overpowering. Kakashi fucked her mouth harder, egged on by her sure grip on his hips as she used it to urge him to go faster.

“Fuck you’re so tight,” Kisame hissed, grunting into her. Powerful, precise thrusts rocked Sakura’s whole body, pushing her face into Kakashi’s crotch. He was relentless once he found his rhythm; he had her thighs in a bruising grip, spreading them far apart to study the sight of his glistening cock as it disappeared into her body only to come back out drenched with her juices.

The sounds they made were obscene as Kisame pounded her, and Kakashi pushed so far into her she gagged around him.

“That’s right,” Kisame growled, pressing his thumb between her folds to rub her rapidly. “Choke on his pretty cock like the good little slut you are.” 

Sakura moaned loudly, locking her ankles around Kisame to trap him deep inside her as another orgasm crested through her. Kisame’s breath exploded out of him in a rough gasp, and he clutched onto her hard as she pulsed around him. “Nghh, _fuck!_ ” 

He shuddered hard, grinding into her until she was spent. “So fucking good,” he panted, snapping his hips again. “Coming on my cock like a good girl.” His hips snapped again, loud and wet and Kakashi couldn’t breathe. 

His body felt achy and hot and everything inside him was drawing up tightly in preparation for release. He was going to explode down Sakura’s throat and he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself much longer.

“S-sakura … I’m close,” he warned, and gripped himself tightly when her tongue caressed him from base to head and slipped out of her bruised lips. 

“Come on my face,” she licked her lips, using her grip on his hips to pull him closer. 

“Fuck,” Kakashi said, stroking himself fast. His loins burned and his balls drew tight. Just the thought was unbearable and it pushed him over the edge. He growled long and deep in his throat as he spilled over her, long spurts of cum coating her cheeks and lips and chest.

Her lips parted again to take him into her mouth where the last dribbles of his orgasm coated her tongue. She sucked him long after he was done, until he was twitching from overstimulation.

By then her breaths were beginning to hitch and she pushed him out of her mouth to moan loudly as she began to tremble again. “A-ah, Kisame! I-I—I’m—!” She broke down in a high pitched cry as Kisame slammed into her and a third orgasm overtook her.

“Yesss, come for me, come on my cock, _fuckkk_ ,” Kisame’s growls rose too, and seconds later he was pulling out of her to spill all over her stomach.

Long ribbons of white decorated her torso and the pink space between her thighs as Kisame rubbed the head between her folds to smear the last of him on her skin. 

It took a long time for both of them to come down from it, Kakashi equally spent but somehow still burning at the depraved sight of Sakura coated with his and Kisame’s seed.

She didn’t help his case when she reached down with her fingertips to collect the generous dollop Kisame left across her lips only to bring it to her devious mouth for a taste. “Mhmm…” she hummed in satisfaction and stretched her body invitingly. “So good…”

Kisame’s mouth attached to her inner knee, leaving a bite. “You just love being cummed on, don’t you?”

She moaned softly when Kisame caressed her sensitive core. “You’re so sexy…” he murmured, teasing her with his fingertips even when her body shook and she whined from overstimulation. “Isn’t she Kakashi?”

“Yeah I think I need to lie down,” Kakashi said truthfully, perching on the bed beside them. He felt weak in the knees, and his bones felt hollow and his head was light. “Fuck that was intense.”

Sakura giggled. Kisame smirked. 

“See I was right,” Kisame told Sakura, sounding very pleased with himself. “It was so worth it.”

“Don’t preen, Bluie, it’s unbecoming,” she teased haughtily and broke out in another moan when Kisame’s finger slipped inside her again. 

“Think you can do one more for me?” He purred, pumping his finger deeply.

“You’re insatiable,” she gasped, hips craning up greedily. 

“And you’re squeezing my fingers; you want to come again.” Kisame’s smile was cocky and self assured. “This pussy can’t lie to me, Pinkie.”

“Gods you and your filthy mouth,” she moaned, gripping the sheets. 

“If you ask nicely I’ll give it to you,” he hummed pleasantly, using his tongue to trace a path up her inner thigh. “Do you want my tongue inside you, Sakura?”

“Guys,” Kakashi groaned as his cock stirred pitifully. “Are you trying to kill me?”

Kisame barked out a loud laugh. “I know you have more in you, Silver.”

“I might need a minute,” he said drily. Sakura’s hitching breaths were beginning to turn into soft moans.

“We’ve got plenty of time,” Kisame reassured, using his free hand to glide a thumb over Sakura’s clit. “Look at her, she’s so eager…”

Kakashi groaned again and thumped his head back down on the pillow.

He was certain of one thing then. If he died it wouldn’t be because of his temporary missing nin status and it certainly wouldn’t be in the hands of an international criminal… it was going to be from the world’s most epic nosebleed from the world’s most epic threesome. 

Life it turned out, had a really funny way of working out. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was definitely a challenge to write, but I really enjoyed working on it. I hope you guys liked it too, please let me know your thoughts/feelings/etc. especially if you have any favourite parts!!
> 
> Happy February and congrats on surviving Jan! ✨


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